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We'll move the earth for a title!Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:18:08 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1March Schedule Projections: How Low Can You Go?http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2015/02/28/march-schedule-projections-how-low-can-you-go/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2015/02/28/march-schedule-projections-how-low-can-you-go/#commentsSat, 28 Feb 2015 14:00:00 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=11502Here is a game-by-game breakdown/projection for every Denver Nuggets game in March. Despite my dreadful performance in projecting the February schedule, I’m back at it again in March! The good news for me is that it’ll be a whole lot easier to project wins and losses this month (Spoiler Alert: there’ll be a lot more losses than wins!). Think of this month’s projection as more of a way to gauge our chances of improving our draft lottery odds.

March Overview

Total Games: 16

Home/Road: 8/8

Over .500/Below .500: 10/6

Back-to-Backs: 5

Three-in-Fours: 5

Four-in-Fives: 1

March is another logistically challenging schedule for the Nuggets and includes significantly more difficult opponents than they faced in February. There is a stretch of four home games in a row in early March with a day off in between each, but three of the four teams in that stretch are championship contenders, so let’s get that top pick!

Game-by-Game Projections (all times MST)

Game 1: Denver vs. New Orleans, 6:00 pm, Sunday, March 1st

The Pelicans are coming off a close home win over Miami and will be on the front end of a back-to-back, with a game in Dallas against the Mavericks the next day, so this is a classic trap game scenario. That said, I think the Nuggets are just to undermanned to come up with a win against New Orleans, regardless of the schedule situation right now.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (0-1)

Game 2: Denver vs. Milwaukee, 7:00 pm, Tuesday, March 3rd

The Bucks will be in the third game of a four game road trip and take on the Warriors in Oakland the next night, so if there was ever a chance the Nuggets could eke out a win against Milwaukee, this is it. Again, I just don’t see it happening. The Bucks have too much athleticism and defensive ability for the Nuggets to take advantage.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (0-2)

Game 3: Denver @ Minnesota, 6:00 pm, Wednesday, March 4th

The Nuggets get their first team that they match up with talent-wise, but they’re on the second night of a back-t0-back and catch the T-Wolves in the middle of a four game homestand. I also think Minnesota will still be riding the wave of KG’s return to where it all began for him.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (0-3)

Game 4: Denver @ San Antonio, 7:00 pm, Friday, March 6th

Denver’s on the road in their third game in four nights. The rested Spurs are in game 2 of a 6 game homestand.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (0-4)

Game 5: Denver vs. Houston, 7:00 pm, Saturday, March 7th

Houston will have played Detroit at home the night before, and won’t play again until the 11th, so this is a good chance to catch them sleeping. I don’t see it happening.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (0-5)

Game 6: Denver vs. New York, 7:00 pm, Monday, March 9th

Here it is, the Nuggets best chance for their first win in March! The Knicks kick off a five game road trip in Denver, and are one of the few teams in the league with more incentive to lose than the Nuggets. Despite their best efforts, I expect the Nuggets to come away with a victory in this one.

Prediction: Nuggets Win (1-5)

Game 7: Denver vs. Atlanta, 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 11th

Next.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-6)

Game 8: Denver vs. Golden State, 7:00 pm, Friday, March 13th

Next.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-7)

Game 9: Denver @ New Orleans, 4:00 pm, Sunday, March 15th

The Pelicans will have played their last game on March 10th, so they’ll likely be a little rusty in the first quarter. That being said…

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-8)

Game 10: Denver @ Memphis, 6:00 pm, Monday, March 16th

Second game of a back-to-back on the road. Not getting win #2 in Memphis.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-9)

Game 11: Denver @ Houston, 6:00 pm, Thursday, March 19th

Denver faces the Rockets in the middle of their five game road trip. Houston will be in the middle of a three game homestand.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-10)

Game 12: Denver @ Miami, 5:30 pm, Friday, March 20th

I thought about giving Denver a surprise win here, as I don’t think Miami is THAT good, especially with Bosh out for the year. I just can’t do it on the road and on a back-to-back though.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-11)

Game 13: Denver @ Orlando, 4:00 pm, Sunday, February 22nd

A key match-up in the 2015 tankathon, Denver closes out their road trip in Orlando against they will be locked in a dogfight for ping pong balls through the end of the season. The Magic are at home in this one and have been playing teams close lately, so they will likely, regretfully, take the win.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (1-12)

Game 14: Denver vs. Philadelphia, 7:00 pm,Tuesday, March 25th

The Nuggets will be hungry for a win and they’ll have a couple days to work themselves up for this one, even if the organization and fans have talked themselves into being okay with losses. Philly plays hard, but this will be the second of a back-to-back and third in four days, all on the road for them. Not to mention, Philly is one of the few teams that has less talent on their roster. The Nuggets finally surpass their win total for February after game 14.

Prediction: Nuggets Win (2-12)

Game 15: Denver vs. Utah, 7:00 pm, Thursday, March 27th

Denver just lost in embarrassing fashion to the Jazz as I’m writing this, so maybe there’s a bit of revenge attached to this prediction, but they go on to face the Thunder at home the night after this one, so I think there’s a good chance the young Jazz roster sleeps through this one. It’s a win streak! (sort of)

Prediction: Nuggets Win (3-12)

Game 16: Denver @ Portland, 8:00 pm, Saturday, March 28th

Fourth game in five nights for Portland. Alas, the streak is over.

Prediction: Nuggets Lose (3-13)

Final Prediction – 3 Wins, 13 Losses

Tank update: This prediction puts the Nuggets at 23-51 on the season, likely locked in a battle with Orlando for the # 5 spot in the draft lottery. A quick glance at the Magic’s schedule shows 9 home games to 5 on the road and only two back-to-backs, so there’s a good chance the Nuggets solidify the #5 spot in March.

Here’s to moving on from a tumultuous 2014 and hoping for a more cheerful 2015 for the Denver Nuggets!

The Nuggets will look to rebound from one of the most frustrating losses of the season after falling to the Los Angeles Lakers at home on Tuesday night. The starters dug a deep hole through lack of effort on both ends of the floor, especially in contesting the Lakers perimeter shots. A furious second half rally led by Jusuf Nurkic and the bench made the final score look better (less worse?) than it actually was, and Nurkic remains the brightest glimmer of hope for a team that ended 2014 about as poorly as possible.

The Bulls closed out 2014 in a similarly disappointing fashion, although their loss came on the heels of a 7-game win streak, making it a little easier to swallow. Shooting just 38 percent from the floor and 53 percent from the line doomed the Bulls to a 96 – 82 defeat at the hands of the middling Brooklyn Nets.

With both teams looking to recover from a poor finish to the calendar year, here are four key questions going into tonight’s game:

Which team will come out more motivated? It will be very interesting to see how the Nuggets starters come out of the gate tonight. Their defensive motivation will be a great barometer for whether the players still have hope for this season or not. With the Bulls recent shooting issues, a solid defensive start could go a long way in helping the Nuggets steal a victory on the road against a solid team.

Will the Nuggets perimeter defense cure the Bulls shooting woes? It seems that for at least the last decade, the Nuggets have been the team that gets slumping players back on track. With Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol all struggling recently, will the trend continue or will the Nuggets learn from their mistakes against the Lakers?

How will the Nuggets bigs fare against Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah? Though they’ve shown improvement this season, the Nuggets frontcourt has generally struggled with staying out of foul trouble. With Gasol’s offensive repertoire and proclivity for “embellishing” contact on the offensive end and Noah’s overall peskiness on the defensive end, will the Nuggets big guys keep their cool? Timofey Mozgov has been a lot better about keeping his feet planted and going straight up to avoid stupid fouls this year, so hopefully he can keep that going tonight.

Can NateRob recapture his pre-injury scoring magic in his return to Chicago? During the fourth quarter of the Lakers game, for the first time I can remember this season, Nate Robinson provided a glimpse of being the spark off of the bench that we’ve been waiting for. He hit big shots, ran the break and made good decisions while simultaneously helping overcome a huge deficit and giving Ty Lawson a much needed breather. Hopefully coming back to a familiar building with a fan-base that still loves him will help keep that momentum going.

What are your thoughts? Will the Nuggets avoid losing a seventh straight road game?

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2015/01/01/game-preview-jan-1-2015-nuggets-vs-bulls/feed/4Game Preview: Denver Nuggets at Houston Rocketshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/16/game-preview-denver-nuggets-at-houston-rockets/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/16/game-preview-denver-nuggets-at-houston-rockets/#commentsSat, 16 Nov 2013 15:03:05 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=7740Eight games into the season, the Nuggets’ 4-4 record is bookended by their 0-3 start and their current three-game winning streak. Last night’s victory over the Timberwolves was a significant step forward, but also marks the beginning of an extremely challenging schedule. to close out November. Starting with tonight’s game at Houston, all of their next seven games are against winning teams, including five on the road.

Denver will have their first chance to go over .500 tonight against he Rockets, who will present a formidable challenge to a Nuggets team which has struggled to defend the perimeter and has lost their primary rim protector in JaVale McGee. Houston leads the league in field goals made at the rim and is seventh in at-rim field goal percentage (.614). And although they are just 23rd in 3-point percentage (.321), they are seventh in attempts and have a slew of players who are capable of draining shots from long range. [Stats from Stats.NBA.com]

The Nuggets will have their hands full containing the elite duo of James Harden and Dwight Howard. The only player they have with the size and strength to possibly resist getting rolled by Dwight is Timofey Mozgov, but against Minnesota, facing the brutish, towering center Nikola Pekovic, Brian Shaw opted to start J.J. Hickson at the five. In that game, the only frontcourt duo who proved truly capable of defending the Pekovic/Kevin Love combo was Timo and Darrell Arthur, so something to watch for will be whether Shaw relents to the MozGod’s rising force and gives him the starting nod. If not, look for Howard to try to exploit his size advantage over Hickson early and often.

It’s hard to see any clear candidate for defending Harden, who, despite struggling from the arc thus far this season, has a strength, quickness and, in most cases size advantage over the Nuggets players who spend time guarding the two. Starter Randy Foye was essentially useless against Kevin Martin, and Harden has a much broader offensive arsenal. Denver’s best bet for containing him may be Wilson Chandler. Given that Rockets coach Kevin McHale (finding himself in a situation analogous to Shaw’s) has recently taken to playing point guards Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverley together in order to give more minutes to his best players, there is a fairly good chance that Shaw will be able to likewise utilize some of his dual point guard lineups while Harden is playing the three. If so, it may present a good opportunity to have Chandler defend Harden without creating too many mismatches.

In short, the Rockets have a very well-balanced offense which is the sixth most efficient in the league, and is more than capable of doing plenty of damage by attacking the rim, launching from long range, scoring from the low post and running in transition – all areas in which the Nuggets have not proven very competent defensively. It will require a focused, hard-fought all-around team effort for the Nuggets to limit Houston’s scoring enough to give their offense a chance to win the game.

On the offensive end of the court, the Nuggets may be in the less-than-desirable position of needing to rely on their mid-range shooting. So far this season, Houston’s defense is second in opponent 3-point percentage (.333) and, largely thanks to Dwight, sixth in opponent at-rim percentage (.533). The Rockets are, however, just average or below average in defense between the arc and the basket, and Denver has players in Arthur, Hickson, Lawson, Chandler – and to a lesser extent Miller, Mozgov and (if he ever gets his shot falling) Robinson – who can sink 10-20 foot jumpers at a respectable clip. Brian Shaw has stated that he wants to execute his offense through the elbow, and if he wants to put that aspect of his team’s halfcourt play to the test, Houston might just be the right opponent for emphasizing it.

Although it’s antithetical to everything we know about high value shots (at-rim and corner 3-pointers), if the Nuggets can utilize pick-and-rolls and pick-and-pops to pose enough of a mid-range challenge to force Houston to adjust, that could open up a better range of scoring opportunities, not unlike how in football a good running game keeps the defense honest and opens up better play action possibilities.

The keystone of Denver’s offense is Ty Lawson, and against Minnesota we saw a striking example of what happens to it when he’s not on the court. The momentum sputters, the player and ball movement becomes sluggish, and the effort is deflated. But with Howard in the paint, it will be challenging for Ty to execute in his usual drive-and-dish fashion. As such, despite the fact that I’m generally a proponent of an all-aggressive Lawson all the time, his efforts may in this game be more judiciously focused on creating good looks for his teammates and being more of an opportunistic scorer than trying to force things too hard.

Denver will need to make good use of screens and pick-and-rolls in order to create open shots in this game, and their screeners and roll men will need to step up as offensive options by getting open and hitting their shots. Darrell Arthur has recently been making a solid case for more minutes, and this matchup with the Rockets is an appropriate one for Shaw to make better use of his particular skill set on both ends of the court. And minutes management notwithstanding, the recently-returned Chandler, who just might be the Nuggets’ most versatile player on offense, should be deployed to the maximum extent possible.

Vegas currently has the Rockets by eight, and they have a pretty good point. In many ways – including the fact that they’re on the second night of a back-to-back – the odds are stacked against the Nuggets. But this game represents a good litmus test for how far the development of Shaw’s new system has progressed, as the Nuggets will be called upon to execute in areas of the game he has been attempting to cultivate (such as screening, team defense and half court execution) that they have not yet become adequately proficient in.

But tough as it will probably be, this is not by any means an unwinnable game for Denver. And with enough defensive effort and focus; enough energy, hustle and board-crashing from the likes of Faried; and perhaps one or two superlative performances from guys who haven’t had a big game yet this season (paging Nate Robinson), they just might get the job done

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/16/game-preview-denver-nuggets-at-houston-rockets/feed/2Nuggets-Timberwolves preview with ESPN’s Bruce Bowenhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/nuggets-timberwolves-preview-with-espns-bruce-bowen/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/nuggets-timberwolves-preview-with-espns-bruce-bowen/#commentsFri, 15 Nov 2013 21:41:29 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=7726Prior to the Nuggets-Timberwolves matchup tonight at 6 p.m. MST on ESPN, Roundball Mining Company was lucky enough to catch up with current ESPN analyst and three-time NBA champion Bruce Bowen. In our brief interview Bowen discusses the value of JaVale McGee, being patient with Brian Shaw and which starting point guard has the edge between Ty Lawson and Ricky Rubio.

1. Kenneth Faried’s defense isn’t always stellar. Against premier power forwards like Kevin Love, how much does it hurt the Nuggets and how much does his energy on the glass make up for it?

This is where the loss of JaVale McGee will hurt them. A big part of what they do is based around him now, especially on the defensive end. Now it takes not just saying, hey, Kevin Love rebounds the basketball really well. Turn, face and put a body on him. Make sure he’s not able to get around you for those rebounds. It’s not something that everybody wants to do but it’s something that is necessary if you want to start moving in the right direction with that ball club.

2. How much of tonight’s outcome will hinge on point guard play? And which point guard is better right now, Ty Lawson or Ricky Rubio?

I think it’s going to go to Ty Lawson because Ty Lawson is able to take over games as far as scoring. I love the fact that Ricky Rubio plays within his strengths, and that’s assisting guys, getting out on the fast break, finding an open man in scoring position. But until he’s able to necessarily take over a game scoring wise, I think we’re always going to say that he’s lacking the one thing. Not many guys can dominate a game quite like Jason Kidd could. Jason Kidd wasn’t necessarily known as the most offensive but he could score and he defended, so Ricky Rubio has a great upside but there’s a lot of things you can still point to as far as him being able to get better as he continues on in the NBA.

3. If the Nuggets are able to win tonight and get to .500 after starting the season 0-3, what will that say about Brian Shaw as a young head coach?

I think it’s unfair to judge a coach after six games, period. You have to give coaches time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Teams coming together – J.J. Hickson who is there new this year. There’s a lot of new players in Denver under new coaching. Kenneth Faried is no longer under the management of the former coach, George Karl. So now, you have to erase your memory and start to accept the different philosophies of what Brian Shaw is bringing to that team. You don’t see that in six games. We didn’t see it with the Miami Heat when LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to Miami to join Dwyane Wade. We didn’t see it instantaneously. We have to be patient. We have to give him time to allow him to really get his feet wet and also to have a stamp of what his philosophy is on that ball club.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/nuggets-timberwolves-preview-with-espns-bruce-bowen/feed/1What to Watch For: Nuggets vs. Atlanta Hawkshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/07/what-to-watch-for-nuggets-vs-atlanta-hawks/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/07/what-to-watch-for-nuggets-vs-atlanta-hawks/#commentsThu, 07 Nov 2013 20:58:54 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=7659Denver takes the court tonight in search of their first win of the season against a good team Atlanta Hawks team still trying to figure things out completely under their new coach Mike Budenholzer.

The Hawks enter tonight’s contest 2-2, coming off a win in Sacramento on Tuesday night. The game starts the run of four winnable games in a row for the Nuggets before they get into one of their most difficult seven game stretches of the season to end the month.

If Denver wants to win tonight’s game there are three things they must address to have a chance.

How does Denver defend Al Horford? Horford and Millsap aren’t a physically imposing front line but they may possess one of the biggest challenges the Denver bigs will face all year. Both players are very good, and in Horford’s case elite, mid-range shooters who both have the ability to step out to the corner and knock down a three pointer every once and a while. So far this year the Denver bigs have allowed their opponents wide open jumper after wide open jumper. Tuesday’s game against San Antonio started to swing when Boris Diaw knocked down a few jumpers and when Tim Duncan followed suit. In his last two healthy seasons (2010-2011 and last year) Horford shot 51 percent on 464 shots and 44 percent on 336 shots from mid-range respectively. If Denver gives him that shot like they have to opposing big men all season, they will pay for it. To start the game Denver will probably have to play JaVale McGee on Horford or Horford will pose problems in the post,where he is also proficient, with his size advantage on Kenneth Faried. It may be a night where Darrell Arthur logs a lot of minutes.

Can McGee score on Horford in the post? As expected much of the Nuggets offense this year has been throwing the ball into the post and hoping one of the bigs can make a play. At points JaVale McGee has looked very fluid and comfortable in those situations but has had shots just not go down. Tonight he gets a player that is deceptively athletic and long in Horford but McGee will still have a significant advantage due to his extreme length and athleticism. If he can find ways to play over the top of Horford he could potentially have a big night. If not Denver could continue to really struggle in the half court offensively.

Can Denver take advantage of Dennis Schroeder’s suspension? The Hawks will be without rookie point guard Dennis Schroeder tonight after he was suspended one game for punching DeMarcus Cousins in the groin during Tuesday’s game. Schroeder had been a valuable piece of the Atlanta rotation this season playing 18.8 minutes per game off the bench. Schroeder has already shown plenty of potential and has been a very good defensive player in the first five games of his career. The Hawks will probably use Shelvin Mack to soak up some of those minutes tonight and while Mack has been around the league for a few seasons he will make much less of an impact than Schroeder would have. Can Nate Robinson and Andre Miller take advantage of the missing defense and get Denver some easy points off the bench? If they can Denver may be in good shape.

Is there something else you are watching for in tonight’s game? If so please leave it in the comments and stay tuned to Roundball Mining Company for post-game thoughts and reactions.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/07/what-to-watch-for-nuggets-vs-atlanta-hawks/feed/3What to Watch For: Nuggets vs. Portland Trailblazershttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/01/what-to-watch-for-nuggets-vs-portland-trailblazers/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/01/what-to-watch-for-nuggets-vs-portland-trailblazers/#commentsFri, 01 Nov 2013 15:59:05 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=7590After a disappointing season opening loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night the Nuggets return to Denver for their home opener against the Portland Trailblazers.

As the Nuggets finish their final preparations for the Blazers there are a few things to ponder entering tonight’s game.

How does Denver defend LaMarcus Aldridge? The Nuggets go from being beaten up inside by DeMarcus Cousins in the opener to facing another great post player in LaMarcus Aldridge tonight. Aldridge will get his points in a wider variety of ways than Cousins did on Wednesday, as he possesses a more reliable mid-range jumper, can play in the post and is also a threat as a pick-and-roll screener where he can dive to the rim or fade for a jumper. J.J. Hickson played Cousins well late in Wednesday’s game by using his physicality to fight Cousins for position. Hickson will start the game on Aldridge and I would expect the Blazers to try and post Aldridge less than usual tonight and instead put Hickson into pick-and-rolls where he typically struggles. Denver has had troubles keeping the opponents best player in check since the beginning of the preseason. If they want to be in tonight’s game they need to solve that problem quickly.

The power forward rotation: Brian Shaw said yesterday that he will probably continue to close games with the Darrell Arthur/J.J. Hickson combination because he thinks it is his best defensive big man pairing. With Hickson also starting at power forward there don’t seem to be many minutes available for Kenneth Faried, who is also still working his way back from injury. I would assume Arthur plays a bit more often early in the game then he did in the season opener to help establish a rhythm which would again limit available minutes for Faried. Arthur should also help defend the pick-and-roll better than any other Nuggets big man, and Portland will run plenty of those plays. Can Faried shake his below average opener and start earning himself more minutes or is Arthur going to take tonight and make the case for 20 or more minutes a game?

What happens at small forward? Anthony Randolph gave the Nuggets 15 awful minutes in the season opener. Does Brian Shaw stick with him as a starter, use Quincy Miller or decide to go to one of the smaller lineups that he used late in the game with either Andre Miller or Evan Fournier alongside Ty Lawson and Randy Foye? As someone who constantly preaches earning minutes it is hard to see how Shaw starts Randolph again tonight, but we will see.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/01/what-to-watch-for-nuggets-vs-portland-trailblazers/feed/48Summer League Recap: Raptors end Nuggets’ tournament runhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/18/summer-league-recap-raptors-end-nuggets-tournament-run/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/18/summer-league-recap-raptors-end-nuggets-tournament-run/#commentsFri, 19 Jul 2013 02:41:54 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6968Summer league is an evaluation process more than anything else, and the Nuggets have used the last six days in the desert as an opportunity to see what they have with a young and talented roster. The Toronto Raptors also gave them a look at what they don’t have on Thursday afternoon, defeating the Nuggets 95-78 and knocking them out of tournament behind the strong play of MVP-favorite Jonas Valanciunas.

Valanciunas has not only been the best player at the Las Vegas summer league, he’s blossoming into one of the more physically imposing seven-footers in the league. Denver meanwhile is evaluating a roster built largely around the slashing and perimeter shooting of their young guards and wings. They simply had no answer for the brute strength and post-centric game of Jonas Valanciunas, who put up a solid line of 15 points and 12 boards without much resistance from the undersized Nuggets.

It really didn’t seem there was much the Nuggets could do about the loss. Jordan Hamilton played well and scored 25 points, but shots weren’t falling and the Nuggets got outrebounded to death. The final tally on the boards was a staggering 48-28 in favor of Toronto. While Denver’s players fought hard and battled it seemed they were just met head-on by their own limitations.

Fatigue may have been a factor as well, with the Nuggets playing their fourth game in a row on consecutive nights. After six days of action, tired legs were showing up for nearly every summer league team but rookie Erick Green denied that it was a determining factor in the loss.

“I don’t think we’re wearing down. We’re just not doing the little things. Not getting back on D, not rebounding well. We’re taking too many threes and it’s the little things we’re not doing that are keeping us from winning” said Green.

Green has been really tough on himself in the summer league, probably a little too much considering this wasn’t a loss that can be attributed to poor execution or effort. The Nuggets simply ran out of gas against a huge team with perhaps the best player in the tournament.

The Nuggets aren’t yet finished with summer league, but it’s essentially winding down and the competitive portion is pretty much in the books. Coaches told me they would use Denver’s final game in the consolation round as an opportunity to play different guys who haven’t seen much court time in the first five games.

The Nuggets final game of summer league will be played Friday at 6:30pm MST against Memphis in the Thomas & Mack Arena.

Maybe not, but the intensity on display Wednesday was certainly something different from what we’ve seen in the summer league so far. The Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 87-82 in their first “playoff” game in Las Vegas, advancing to the round of 16 in the tournament with their first win in four tries.

The game was marked by physical play and tighter rotations by both coaches. There’s no doubt guys were trying to win and coaches had a little less patience for the evaluation process than they did in the earlier part of summer league.

Jordan Hamilton returned to the team after taking a leave of absence to attend a funeral in Los Angeles. He came out firing on all cylinders, setting the tone early with 18 first quarter points. From then on the Nuggets nursed their lead while fending off Pelicans runs until a competitive fourth quarter in which the Nuggets pulled out the victory behind timely scoring from the sophomore contingent of Quincy Miller and Evan Fournier.

“We wanted to come out really aggressive and set the tone early, and obviously Jordan Hamilton shot the basketball and played with great confidence. He set the tone for us and led by example — we needed that” said Melvin Hunt, who assumed most of the coaching duties for Wednesday’s game.

“We lost three in a row. Our mindset was just to win, regardless of anything else” said starting point guard CJ Harris, who hit all three of his shots and was instrumental in finally getting the Nuggets some offense inside the paint.

When Darius Johnson-Odom was asked what was different about Wednesday’s mindset, he replied “We just wanted to win. It’s the start of a new day with the tournament and we needed a win. We got us one and now we just wanna keep going.”

The other big story of the game was the lights-out perimeter shooting of Quincy Miller. The 6-10 combo forward was on fire, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from deep and delivering the timeliest makes of the night. The Nuggets looked to Quincy when they needed big fourth quarter buckets and he showed an ability to hit big-time shots under pressure.

Erick Green added 14 points off the bench, shaking off a lot of his earlier struggles and looking much more confident and composed in a secondary scorer’s role.

As a result of the win, Denver moves on to the next round of the tournament where they will face the #6 seed Toronto Raptors on Thursday at 4:00pm MST. It will be the Nuggets fourth game in as many nights. As the Nuggets look to advance in the tournament tomorrow here’s a sampling of Nuggets news and notes from around the gym at summer league.

CJ Harris Q&A

I talked to CJ Harris after his solid performance as the starting point guard, and the rookie told me he’s making the transition to more of a pure point guard role in the NBA. Here’s what we covered in the short Q&A session.

Q: For people that haven’t seen you play before, describe your gameA: I do a little bit of everything. Coming out of college, I was strictly a shooter. That’s probably my biggest strength. But throughout the summer I’ve learned to play the point guard position, find open guys and take shots when I’m open.

Q: Why do you think the offense struggled so much in the first three games?A: Yeah, it was tough getting our chemistry. First time we’ve all been together and it took us a while to gel. We did a great job sharing the ball today and it paid off.

Q: Do you think you could be a 40% three-point shooter in the NBA?A: Absolutely. Yeah, that’s the definite strength of my game. I haven’t gotten too many three-point looks out here yet, but I’m thinking I’ve made all of them so far.

Q: What’s the secret to being efficient shooting the ball? Is it just taking good shots?A: That and being confident. I think confidence is really big in shooting. I definitely have a lot of confidence in my shot.

Q: What have the coaches been stressing in terms of concepts and the system they want?A: Defense and being really agressive. We want to get stops and immediately push. Setting up the plays comes secondary. That’s what they’ve been harping on.

Q: When they do call plays, what do they want you to run?A: It’s a little bit of pick and rolls. We’ve also got Jordan, Evan coming off down screens. We’ve got Q picking and popping, stuff like that. Just utilizing everybody’s strengths.

Melvin Hunt on Quincy Miller’s development

Talking to coach Melvin Hunt after the game, I asked if Quincy’s summer league success as a stretch four meant the Nuggets would look for him to play that role in the NBA. Hunt said the Nuggets are still in an evaluation process in terms of what he can do and that they’ve always viewed him as a guy who will play multiple positions.

“Quincy’s a basketball player, a new-age basketball player” said Hunt. “He’s long, athletic, can play multiple positions and gives us multiple skills. He’s just a new-age basketball player.”

When asked about his development from last summer to this one, coach Hunt said “He’s gotta continue to keep showing us different things. One thing coach Shaw has assessed since he’s been here is that we’re gonna make mistakes, so how about we make new mistakes? We want to see growth and development out of all our guys. With Quincy, we don’t want to see him making the same mistakes he was in the beginning of the tournament and [repeating those] towards the end of the tournament. We want him to make new ones. This is just the summer league.”

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/17/summer-league-recap-nuggets-advance-to-second-round/feed/152Summer League Recap: Wizards annihilate Nuggetshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/16/summer-league-recap-wizards-annihilate-nuggets/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/16/summer-league-recap-wizards-annihilate-nuggets/#commentsWed, 17 Jul 2013 05:48:25 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6957The preliminary round of summer league concluded on Tuesday night, with the Golden State Warriors clinching a top seed and first-round bye in the upcoming tournament. On the other end of the spectrum were the Denver Nuggets, who went into the evening ranked dead last in the seeding and further cemented themselves there after getting thrashed by the Washington Wizards.

Jan Vesely did most of the damage for the Wizards, scoring 18 points on 11 shots in just 21 minutes. Washington had little trouble establishing a comfortable lead midway through the first quarter and were able to put it on cruise control the rest of the night.

On the Denver side of things, it was a nightmare. There were glimmers of hope throughout the Nuggets’ first two double-digit losses in summer league, but the latest affair only confirmed what the standings already said: the Nuggets can’t get anything going and have been the worst performing club of the preliminary round by far.

With the losses mounting and the offense following the defense into a state of utter disarray, the Nuggets did their best to stay positive and upbeat. Coach Lester Conner delivered a lengthy speech following the game and seemed confident the Nuggets would be able to stick together and shake off the three big losses heading into tournament play.

“We’ve got to show that we can handle pressure” said Conner after another blowout loss. “23 turnovers for 35 points is way too much. We told the guys at the beginning of the game and the end of the game don’t let our offense dictate how our defense plays. And the last few games we’ve been giving teams fifty plus percent [shooting] from the floor.”

Conner spoke in broad terms when asked what was the number one thing Denver needed to work on heading into tournament play. “Execution on both ends of the floor” he said. “We’re not getting any execution on the defensive schemes and we can’t get into any of our offensive sets.”

There are no easy fixes for a team struggling in so many different areas.

Throughout all of the losing, Quincy Miller continues to show glimpses of a promising all-around game and told me he feels confident the team will be able to stick together and play with confidence in the upcoming games. When asked if a lack of experience and the loss of Jordan Hamilton were wearing on the team, Quincy said the Nuggets’ biggest problems were simpler than that.

“We ain’t trying to make no excuses. We should have played better. We gotta play hard, that’s the bottom line. If we play hard it’ll make up for a lot our mistakes.”

Miller and Evan Fournier were the lone Nuggets to score in double figures. Fournier led the team with 12 points on 9 shots and Quincy finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes.

Tournament Update

The Nuggets are the #22 seed and are schedule to play #11 seeded New Orleans in round one on Wednesday afternoon. The game is scheduled for 3:00pm in the Cox Pavilion.

Quincy enjoys physical battle with Vesely

Coach Lester Conner continued to experiment with playing Quincy Miller at multiple positions. The long and versatile Miller started at the four again but spent more time at the three than he did in the first two contests. Miller was one of the few Nuggets able to get some defensive pressure on Vesely with his length, but Jan had a great game and made some pretty difficult shots.

Quincy displayed some toughness and a mean streak in a physical matchup with Vesely, which he seemed to enjoy. When asked about the chippiness early on, Quincy replied “I think Vesely’s a great player. He’s older than me, but I’m not gonna let you punk me — that’s never gonna happen. We was going at each other and that was pretty fun.”

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/16/summer-league-recap-wizards-annihilate-nuggets/feed/14Game 6 Preview: Why Harrison Barnes is Hurting the Nuggetshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/05/02/game-6-preview-why-harrison-barnes-is-hurting-the-nuggets/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/05/02/game-6-preview-why-harrison-barnes-is-hurting-the-nuggets/#commentsThu, 02 May 2013 14:00:02 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6133As George Karl was forced to make adjustments to counteract Stephen Curry and the Warriors new small ball lineup in the series, two main thoughts started to pop up. First let Curry get his points and limit his teammates and second play a big lineup, like Denver has done all season long with two traditional bigs instead of Wilson Chandler at the power forward spot.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, despite a victory in Game 5, doing those things may not be possible together. One of the important parts of the Nuggets playing with two bigs is Kenneth Faried playing Harrison Barnes on the defensive end. But Faried has struggled a bit in that role as his unfamiliarity of defensive rotations has allowed Barnes to get a lot of open shot attempts, some he has knocked down and some he hasn’t. The following are four examples of the problems Faried has had, three makes and a miss, from Game 5 when Barnes had 23 points.

Barnes 1st 3:

As you can see on Barnes first made three he caught the ball with Faried way too far away. There is just no way for Faried to get to Barnes in time to make any difference on his shot. Get used to this type of distance, it happens a lot.

Barnes 2nd 3:

This picture comes from before Barnes catches the ball. Before the picture Faried was randomly wandering the lane before jumping over to double Klay Thompson. The problem? As you can see by the arrow Harrison Barnes is nowhere close to Faried. And as the next picture will show that is a pretty big problem.

Barnes caught it and no Nugget was close enough to make a difference. And he drilled it.

Barnes 5th 3:

Another pre-catch photo for this one. Faried is too far into the lane on this play. With most defensive systems it is Lawson’s responsibly to drop down and bump Bogut, slowing him down enough that a big can recover. After all, if Bogut catches on the move where Faried is now is too deep into the lane to help anyway. Faried has his head turned to Barnes, a cardinal sin of defense, and the result after a deflection is the following.

There is the catch. Again no Nugget that close as Barnes enters into his shot. Again he drilled it.

The problems are not just on the makes though. Barnes has missed some open looks, keeping the numbers lower than they could be, which should scare Denver. An example of a Barnes miss that came off a perfectly clean look.

Faried lost Barnes in transition and was dropping too far in the lane to be able to recover once the pass was caught. Barnes missed but it was a wide open miss.

The Nuggets biggest problem is that the matchup is not one they can really exploit because Faried does not possess a post-up game and he has not been all that effective on the offensive glass where he is averaging just two offensive rebounds a game. If the Nuggets are essentially willing to punt on the Curry matchup in order to limit the rest of the Warriors they cannot afford to lose individual matchups. And if Faried continues to be lost defending Barnes they have the potential to not just lose it, but get blown out in it. If Barnes goes for 20 plus points again in Oracle Arena the Nuggets may be in a lot of trouble when the fourth quarter rolls around.